SISYPHUS IN CHINA

New Zealand Times, Volume LXXI, Issue 4292, 27 February 1901, Page 4

SISYPHUS IN CHINA

'Hie European Powers who are now engaged in impressing Western ethics and civilisation upon the people of China are finding the task long and arduous. It docs not appear that the sighing of the. Joint Note of irrevocable conditions, as drawn by the Powers, has brought about a peaceful solution of the difficulty. While the Chinese Court has accepted its terms, which shortly put arc “China for the Chinese, and the trade of the Celestial Empire for the world, with just retribution to the leaders of recent rebellion,” we heard yesterday of forces of Chinese regulars attacking German soldiers and the losses in killed and wounded numbering as many as,in some of the fiercer fights in the Transvaal war. The acquiescence of the Chinese Court in the terms of the Note was altogether! too '‘childlike and bland'’ not to evoke' suspicion. In executing those who, werej mainly responsible for outrages attheLe-;; gatious and hostilities towards foreigners! i

geneva)!;.-, the Chinese authorities were dilatory, and orders for decapitation have been commuted to sentence- of banishment for life; while Prince Tuan and his brother Lam the. loaders of the Boxer movement, are only to bo banish-

ed from one province to another, 'The Power.-, have: b-ecu laying up stores of .satisfaction to themselves that the Chinese situation had been successfully managed, that safety to foreigners was restored, and that tho payment cf an indemnity was guaranteed. It is a very o'nen question, however, whether, tho operations in China have been successful. Peace has not boon restored, ami it remain;-, seen whether the mans provided for tho collection of the unr indemnity are adequate. Inaccd, it seems from the cablegrams wo have published within-the Inst two or three days that the tranquilising of China is only being seriously considered by tho aides. For months they have been dilly-dally-ing with Li Hung Chang and Prince Ching. and there is (dill no. assurai.es that the terms demanded by tho Powers can bo enforced. The Powers are now

instituting arrangements lor a display of force. The’ German commissariat in Chine, has been ordered to have a. thousand transport waggons in readiness, in three, weeks’ time for an eighty oa.\S ex-pediti-.n. Colonel Hoffmeistcr Ims already been despatched with an expeditionary corps, and the Kaiser s repre-.ca-tativos are engaging pilots for, an expedition up thoi Yang-tse, river, which has hitherto been regarded as the special field of British influence and operations. It is the intention of Count von WaldfT,sco to proceed to Tai-yucn-fu to escort the Emperor to Pekin ; but if that is not feasible, thou the expedition will merely make a. demonstration through the province of Chi-li. with a view to “hustling'’ the Chinese' Court into accepting the terms of the Powers. While all tins is going on in China, Viscount Cranborno, the Parliamentary Secretary to the Foreign Office, is informing the House of Commons that ho is not aware that any Government among the! allies desired to send the expedition that Count von Waldorseo is organising. -Do the Powers know what is being done in China? Viscount Cranborne confesses to ignorance, and intelligence on Monday stated 1 that the preparations for tho expedition had not been cancelled.

All these preparations for expeditions to encourage the Emperor to return to Pekin are probably destined to end in failure. At all events, they add to the gravity of the situation. If tho intention is, as is alleged, to frighten tho

■ Chinese Court into submission, it ns tho easiest thing imaginable for tho'Bmperor to “flit” several hundreds of miles further away, and Count von Waldersee would present a. pretty picture to gods and men at the head of an expeditionary forco in pursuit of the Chinese ruler in the heart of his empire. If rye arc to believe! the correspondent of the “Times,” the 'Emperor’s determination to give Pekin a wide berth for the present is excusable- A Foreign Legation fortress to accommodate two thousand troop I ’, with equipment and stores capable of withstanding a three months’ siege, is being built alongside the Imperial Palace ; and though prudence on the part of tho Allies dictates this course, the action is not calculated to inspire confidence in the Celestial Court in the peaceful intentions of tho Power’s. Together with this demonstration of force wo hear dreadful stories of rapine and brutality on tho part of certain of the allied troops, and the reported conduct "of tho members of “higher civilisations ' is likely to quicken Chinese hatred of these “foreign devils.” Then the work of looting and annexation goes melrrily on. Tho civiUsers looted tho Forbidden City, and now Austria has openly occupied a portion of territory near the Imperial Canal, France and Germany have annexed private lands at Pekin, and Italy has grabbed the Imperial maritime Customs buildings and gardens, to say nothing of Russian acquisitions, now relinquished, then retaken,, in Manchuria J Along with this intelligence comes the statement that the United States Government has induced the Powers to agree to seek no individual concessions i in China without international assent I | Every day’s nows seems to emphasise the conviction that the Powers are hopelessly involved in the Chinese ombroglio, and that as far as any adequate and ■satisfactory solution is concerned they are no nearer its discovery than they were twelve months ago. It is the old, weary story of Sisyphus rolling tho stone uphill, and the end of it no one can foresee.